Major congrats go out to Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken for their induction to the HOF. They chose to spend their entire careers with one team, and did nothing to besmirch the game. They played the game hard, and they played it right.

Other thoughts:McGwire got 23% …. hmmm ….

seems about right, considering the rumblings regarding early opinions of his candidacy

Gossage got 71% …. hopefully the ONLY reason he didn’t make it was of some silly notion that major name first-timers shouldn’t have to share the spotlight with those on the ballot for a while.

Rice got 63% and Dawson got 56% …. Rice’s time on the ballot is running short and Dawson has been on there for a while too. Hopefully the BBWAA will open their eyes and recognize how truly dominant they were among their peers in the 70s and 80s.

Blyleven got 47% …. unbelievably low considering how much work the sabermetric community has done in showing just how good a pitcher he was, and how he out-performed the teams he played on throughout his career. He MUST get in at some point.

Not including the 2 blank ballots submitted,
Gwynn was left off 11 ballots and Ripken was left off 6 ballots
.
Those writers will be suspended from covering MLB for 50 games as first-time offenders of the league’s "what drugs have you been taking?" policy…

"I will, without question, vote for McGwire. I’m not interested in moral arguments; I’m not electing a prime minister, mayor, or pope. I would not vote for Pete Rose, because I believe that any manager or player tempted enough to bet on a game might be equally tempted to do something that would knowingly affect the outcome of a game."–Jeff Blair, Toronto Globe and Mail reporter.

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But if McGwire’s usage of Andro and similar PEDs gave him an advantage over those NOT using them, and he therefore padded his Hall of Fame stats resume, that’s OK?

"A Connecticut artist plans to exhibit a sculpture of baseball great Ted Williams’ severed head at a New York gallery next month.

Daniel Edwards of Moosup, Conn., said the inspiration for the sculpture came to him when it was revealed that the Hall of Famer’s head was removed and cryogenically frozen with his torso at Scottsdale’s Alcor Life Extension Foundation."

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… next up for Edwards, perhaps a sculpture of the late Wilt Chamberlain’s phallus … ???